E-News November 2025

News

Dartmouth Cove
On October 7, after a lengthy public hearing, Council approved implementing restrictions on infilling water lots in Dartmouth Cove. The decision affects nine properties, was a long-time coming, and is a major victory for folks who don’t want the Dartmouth Waterfront to be used as a one-off dump site for pyritic slate. Unfortunately, this isn’t the end of the story.

All planning bylaws in Nova Scotia are subject to Provincial approval. Mostly over the decades that has been a formality. On Thursday though, HRM was notified that the Provincial Director of Planning has ruled that HRM’s Dartmouth Cove amendments could be in potential conflict with Provincial priorities. HRM hasn’t been provided any further details yet as to what the potential conflicts might be. As a result of the Director’s ruling, the Provincial Minister of Municipal Affairs, John MacDonald, will now have 30 days to review HRM’s bylaw amendments and either approve or reject them.

Unfortunately, the Provincial government is already strongly signaling that they’re planning on rejecting the Dartmouth Cove bylaw amendments. On Thursday, the Premier spoke to reporters after cabinet and was asked about Dartmouth Cove. CBC reports that the Premier called HRM’s bylaw “ambiguous,” “not actually coherent,” and the result of a “pretty political process.”

The Premier’s comments don’t make much sense to me. There isn’t anything ambiguous or incoherent about the Dartmouth Cove bylaw. It was drafted by professional planners and closely mirrors already existing bylaw amendments that HRM has implemented in the Northwest Arm and that were approved by this very same Provincial government in 2024. Why is a bylaw ambiguous and incoherent only when it’s applied to Dartmouth Cove? Why is the Northwest Arm worthy of protection and Dartmouth Cove isn’t? What’s really incoherent is rejecting bylaw amendments in one location that were previously accepted in another! I would also add that saying the process was political is, to me, a disrespectful way of dismissing something that people in Dartmouth care deeply about. Should people have stayed home and not spoken up about what they want the future of their community and the waterfront to be? Isn’t engagement what we want from our citizens? What a horrible message.

Jurisdiction over pre-confederation waterlots is complicated, and although the federal government hasn’t been as active a player in protecting Dartmouth Cove as they were in the Northwest Arm, the feds have still repeatedly signaled, in writing, a willingness to work with HRM. There shouldn’t be any jurisdictional concerns here and, if there are concerns, it’s up to the federal government to express that (something they haven’t done). If the Province torpedo’s the Dartmouth Cove bylaw amendments over jurisdiction, the result will just be finger-pointing between them and the Feds.

Dartmouth Cove also can’t be about housing as alternative pyritic slate disposal sites exist and any infilled water lots in Dartmouth Cove would take many years to develop due to issues around infrastructure. There are no housing units in Dartmouth Cove that would in anyway relate to our current housing difficulties and there are other locations for waste slate to go. Overruling HRM can’t be justified by the housing crisis.

So it will be very interesting to see what specifically provincial staff have identified as a concern around Dartmouth Cove as the arguments against approving HRM’s bylaw amendments all seem exceedingly flimsy and a precedent has already been set by this very government in the Northwest Arm.

Unfortunately, there is one key difference in Dartmouth Cove. What is unambiguous is that the owners of one of the affected waterlots in Dartmouth Cove are personal friends of the Premier. Tom Hickey, one of the owners of Atlantic Road Construction who are seeking to infill a waterlot in Dartmouth Cove, was briefly appointed to run Invest Nova Scotia in 2022. Speaking to reporters at the time, CBC reported that Premier Houston said of Tom Hickey and Wayne Crawley:

The Premier’s self-described personal friend has a major financial stake in the Dartmouth Cove bylaw being rejected. It’s hard not to conclude that the only thing that’s really different about Dartmouth Cove compared to the Northwest Arm is that wealthy business interests with a direct line to the Premier are strongly opposed to HRM’s bylaw. If Houston is concerned about a “pretty political processes” I would suggest he look in the mirror. The Minister of Municipal Affair’s review of HRM’s bylaw appears tainted by the Premier’s comments/direction before it has even begun.

If you haven’t done so, I would strongly urge you to write your MLA, the Minister of Municipal Affairs and the Premier on this issue. While the Province has signaled that they intend to overrule HRM, they haven’t done so yet. The Houston government has backed down in the past when faced with significant public pressure. They might again. HRM has done all we can here. The only way to have an actual waterfront plan guide the future and to save Dartmouth Cove from becoming an unplanned rocky moonscape for years (or even decades) to the benefit of no one except the Premier’s friends is for the public to make it clear to the Provincial government that it will cost them politically. Now isn’t the time for silence, it’s time to be loud Dartmouth.

Premier Tim Houston premier@novascotia.ca
Minister of Municipal Affairs, John MacDonald dmamin@novascotia.ca
Look up your MLA here

The Save Dartmouth Cove group is looking to organize several protests this month. I would encourage everyone who can participate to do so. The Province might still overrule HRM, but it seems clear that, in the absence of public pushback, they definitely will.

Community Mediation Program
HRM has launched a new pilot program to provide an alternative approach to hopeful resolve disputes between neighbours. Right now, disputes can tie up a lot of municipal resources as neighbours make complaints against each other. The result of the complaint process is often unsatisfying to both sides and often the underlying dispute continues to simmer. In short, HRM spends a lot of time and money on disputes and the municipality’s involvement rarely leads to happy outcomes for the folks at the centre of it.

So HRM is trying something new this year, a community mediation program. The mediation program is being provided through the United Way and launched in October. The idea is for trained mediators to try and sort out disputes between neighbours. To get at the actual root of the problem rather than the weaponized bylaw complaints that HRM often receives. The program will run until at least March 2026.

So if you’re in a dispute with a neighbour that you haven’t been able to resolve or know someone who is in that situation, please check out the United Way’s website here.

Community-based Crisis Assistance and Response (CARE) Team
The new community mediation program isn’t the only pilot that HRM has launched. HRM now has a civilian crisis response team operating in Dartmouth and Cole Harbour. The new service provides in-person support for folks aged 16 and over who are dealing with mental health, substance use, or personal well-being challenges. The goal is to provide a trauma-informed alternative response to calls for help that would normally end up with police. CARE staff are trained in harm reduction, mental health, first aid, and suicide prevention.

The CARE team is being provided by Souls Harbour Rescue Mission who has already been operating as HRM’s after hours response team at homeless encampments. Souls Harbour is a religious organization, but the service provided is non-denominational and is supervised by HRM.

Alternative crisis response programs are something that cities across Canada are trying and there have been significant successes. An evaluation of Toronto’s Community Crisis Service found that in the pilot neighbourhoods 78% of mental health 911 calls were successfully handled by the team. Edmonton, Montreal, and several municipalities in BC have also launched crisis teams. I’m very hopeful that this new HRM service will prove to be equally valuable.

The CARE service currently operates 8:00 am – 9:00 pm Monday – Friday, but that will change in January when it will become a 24 hour a day, seven day a week service. To get in touch with CARE, please dial 211.

Housing Catalogue
HRM is officially a Local Partner in the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation (CMHC) Housing Design Catalogue. The idea behind the catalogue is to speed up the process of constructing housing by developing a set of publicly available ready to build free plans. There are a number of plans available produced by local architects for CMHC to distribute. By becoming a local partner, HRM will:

• Promote the use of construction ready plans for townhouses, fourplexes and accessory dwelling units, such as backyard suites,
• Streamline development approvals for catalogue designs
• Track and report on the number of building permits that use Housing Design Catalogue designs
• Be featured in CMHC promotional materials and communications related to the catalogue launch.

Using the Housing Design Catalogue can help homeowners and builders save time and money. The plans are energy-efficient, adaptable and climate-resilient, helping to increase the supply of “missing middle” housing options in communities across the region. To check out the Housing Catalogue, visit CMHC’s website here.

Lake Horizon
I continue to get questions from folks around Horizon Court about what the plan is for the construction project that started and then stopped at the corner of Horizon and Micmac Boulevard. The developer secured a log grading permit to start construction, but by the time that they were seeking a building permit, their original development agreement’s defined deadline for the installation of a building foundation had lapsed. HRM couldn’t issue a building permit for a dead agreement and so work came to a halt. The developer now has to decide whether to redesign the project to fit the Centre Plan requirements or to apply to change the Centre Plan to allow for the original building design to proceed. The ball is in their court, and I understand that they’re working through the planning process with HRM staff.

In in the interim, HRM’s development engineering staff are working with the owner to make sure the site is safe. HRM is requiring fencing, that the banks of the new pond are stable, and that water depth be controlled. As the pond fills up, the developer will have to pump it out into the storm system (Halifax Water limits how much water a day can be added) or truck it away. The dry weather over the last few months has meant that this really hasn’t been an issue, but that could change with a wetter fall/winter. HRM continues to monitor the site and is working with the property owner, but if you note any concerns, they can be reported to 311.

Boards and Committee Recruitment
Keep an eye on HRM’s website this week. The municipality will be launching a recruitment drive for volunteers to serve on various boards and committees. Check out HRM’s page starting on November 5 for details.

Alderney Escalator
A number of people have asked me why the escalator from the Pedway down to the Ferry Terminal is out-of-service. The escalator has been out of commission for weeks now and unfortunately, it’ll still be a while yet before it is back up and running. An “item” (not sure what exactly) got jammed in the tracks and did extensive damage (a good reminder to hold onto your stuff!). HRM has had to order replacement parts and there have been supply difficulties in getting them. They were still 8-10 weeks out at the end of October so the earliest that repairs will be doable is December. In the interim, there are two elevators that go up to the Pedway from the Ferry Terminal level: one just at the Ferry Terminal exit (the Wooden Monkey elevator) and another over by the market. Hopefully the missing parts will arrive soon!

Public Consultation

Birchwood Sidewalk
November 4
Online
Today is the last day to provide feedback on a potential sidewalk project for Birchwood Terrace in Crichton Park. The proposed sidewalk would run the length of Birchwood Terrace and one block on Lawnsdale. The idea is to fill the gap in the sidewalk network that exists between Woodland Avenue and Lawnsdale to Louise. This is a well-used route for drivers and pedestrians a like and kids do have to walk on Birchwood to get to and from Crichton Park Elementary. A sidewalk would provide some obvious safety benefits and it has been something that has been raised with me several times over the years.

On the other hand, building a sidewalk on Birchwood would have impacts on homeowners along the street and would be a fairly complicated and expensive project to carryout. The street would have to be narrowed, and parking restricted to one-side (for a real world example elsewhere in Dartmouth, this is how a sidewalk was added to Chadwick and Renfrew Streets).

So with a bunch of pros and cons to consider, HRM is collecting feedback both from adjacent property owners, but also from the wider neighbourhood. The online survey is open until the end of day November 4. Questions and feedback can also be sent directly to the Project Manager, Aners Turim via Anders.Turim@halifax.ca. To complete the survey visit HRM’s Shape Your City page here.

Big Albro Naturalization
Nov 3 – Dec 5
Online Survey
HRM is planning to carry out a naturalization project in 2026 at Albro Lake Beach. Albro Lake has suffered from water quality issues over the years, which is very likely due to the concentration of waterfowl around the beach. To try and improve water quality, HRM is planning to naturalize parts of the shoreline. The idea is to create a buffer that can filter runoff better and to also make the space less attractive for ducks and geese (waterfowl are kind of like us in that they like big open grass areas that run right down to the shoreline). HRM has already undertaken similar projects at Penhorn and Banook.

I want to emphasize that HRM isn’t taking away the beach. The sandy strip and public water access will continue. What this project is about is being more deliberate about what areas around the shore are grass, and what areas are natural. Albro Lake is an important recreation destination and the Park will continue to serve that purpose.

Right now HRM is gathering community feedback and has an online survey open until December 5. For more information on the project and to take the survey visit HRM’s website here.

Housing Strategy
Online Survey
HRM staff are collecting public feedback on the new municipal Housing Strategy. The envisioned outcome of the Housing Strategy is to clarify the municipality’s role in housing, evaluate HRM’s current affordable housing programs, and establish a framework to guide HRM’s future actions. While housing involves all three orders of government, the purpose of HRM’s strategy is to focus on what HRM can control in its own jurisdiction, while also responding to federal and provincial programs, and the non-profit housing sector. For more information and to fill out HRM’s survey, visit the municipal website here.

Council Updates

To keep you informed about what is going on at Council, I’m writing a regular blog after Council meetings. Each of my entries is about what I saw as noteworthy from a District 5 perspective and my views on the issues. We might not always agree, but I think it’s important to provide a record of how I voted and why.

Council Update, October 7
The Dartmouth Cove decision and potential changes to deed transfer taxation. Read about it here.

Council Update, September 9
Setting up the Dartmouth Cove public hearing, a potential lighting project on the Dartmouth Common, and a new parks stewardship program. Read about it here.

Events

Free Notary Clinic
Friday, November 7, 9:30 – 11:00 am
Alderney Gate Public Library,
Legal Info Nova Scotia
Legal Info Nova Scotia has been offering free notary events at the Keshen Goodman Public Library, but after noting that there were large numbers of folks making the journey over from Dartmouth, Legal Info has decided to add a Dartmouth notary event. Come down to the Alderney Gate Public Library on Friday morning to get documents worn, certified or witnessed. It should be noted that this isn’t a session for legal advice, but rather to notarize documents free of charge. For more information and to book a time, visit Legal Info’s website here.

Dartmouth Handcrafters
Friday, November 14, 2:00 – 9:00 pm
Saturday, November 15, 10:00 am – 6:00 pm
Sunday, November 16, 10:00 am – 4:00 pm
Zatzman Sportsplex
The Dartmouth Handcrafters Guild returns to the Zatzman Sportsplex this month for another incredible show of handmade magic, holiday cheer, and local talent all crammed into three days at the Zatzman Sportsplex. Browse hundreds of juried artisans, makers, and crafters — from cozy knits and festive décor to fine art, jewelry, gourmet treats, and more.

Kris Kringle Craft Market
Saturday, November 15
North Woodside Community Centre
Stop by the North Woodside Community Centre for your holiday shopping to find over 70 craft tables and a $5 pancake breakfast. Santa himself will likely attend! For more information, call 902-463-9276.

Light the way 2025
Saturday, November 15 and Sunday November 16, 7:00 pm (doors open at 6:00)
Sanctuary Arts Centre
100 Ochterloney Street
The Halifax Art and Performance Association is hosting two candlelight concerts in support of The North Grove. The concerts will feature music performed by Rostova String Quartet who take pop music and present it in classical style. Tickets are avaialable here, or at https://hrmevents.com/light

Findlay Kids Holiday Market
Saturday, November 29, 1:30 – 3:30
Findlay Community Centre
Have a creative young person in your world? Well there is a holiday market just for them. The Findlay Kids Holiday Market is for elementary aged kids who are creators, entrepreneurs, bakers, and makers. A 1/2 table space in the market is available for $5. Admission to the market is free but donations to the food bank will be happily accepted. For more info or to reserve a space please email findlayholidaykids@gmail.com